Oyster mushrooms are saprophytic wood-dwelling fungi with up to 30 varieties, but only 10 of them are suitable for home cultivation. In nature, the mushrooms grow on dead or diseased trees, feeding on and breaking down the wood, recycling it, and turning it into fertile soil. Oyster mushrooms are easy to grow, but to ensure a successful harvest, it's worth learning how to grow them at home.
Features and beneficial properties of home-grown oyster mushrooms
The appearance of oyster mushrooms depends on their environment: vertical or horizontal stem surface, humidity, lighting, and air temperature. The mushroom grows on a full-fledged stalk or a lateral stem, singly, in clusters, or in a cascade of caps on a common base.
The cap size ranges from 10 to 30 cm. Color ranges from light gray to olive and purple. The cap is convex, with a rolled edge, and straightens with age. It is often asymmetrical and fan-shaped, as it grows on stumps and other vertical surfaces.
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The flesh is juicy and white, with white gills extending onto the stem, tightly pressed together when young. This is how oyster mushrooms should be harvested for eating; they become tougher with age.
With a very low calorie content of 40 kcal, this mushroom is suitable for dietary use. It's convenient for Lenten meals and can even replace meat in salads. It's rich in proteins, carbohydrates, minerals, and vitamins. Its high digestibility makes it suitable for children and the elderly. For medicinal purposes, oyster mushrooms are recommended for lowering blood pressure and cholesterol.
An algorithm for growing oyster mushrooms in bags at home
Since mushrooms aren't plants, windowsills, garden soil, or indoor light and humidity aren't suitable for growing them. For example, for mycelium to grow, it requires a temperature of 25 degrees Celsius, but for fruiting, the temperature drops to 15 degrees Celsius. Therefore, some investment in equipment is required. However, if successful, mushrooms will be available year-round, as indoors they fruit in all seasons.
The first thing you need is a room. It should be unoccupied, as the conditions there will be different from those needed by humans or animals. Ventilation, humidification, and disinfection will be necessary. Therefore, a separate shed or basement is ideal.
You may be interested in:A veranda in a house is also suitable, or if in an apartment, a glazed balcony on a dark side, or a separate room that's not used. However, be aware of the consequences: mushrooms will create a persistent mushroom smell, high humidity, and a risk for allergy sufferers (allergies to mushroom spores are common). The room should be cleaned and whitewashed.
Substrate preparation
Since oyster mushrooms are wood-dwelling fungi, they need to be fed with decaying wood and similar materials at home. Therefore, the substrate typically includes deciduous sawdust, corn tops, sunflower seed husks, straw, and bran in any proportions. All of these should be crushed to a particle size no larger than 3 cm.
The next step is to disinfect the mixture to eliminate mold and harmful bacteria. To do this, first keep it in the freezer, then bake it in the oven or repeatedly pour boiling water over it. If possible, you can boil it over a stove to be on the safe side.
Then the substrate must be placed in containers: barrels, boxes, bags and left for 12 hours to swell and cool.
Mycelium processing
The mycelium should be kept at a temperature of 3-4°C; a refrigerator is suitable for this purpose. Once the substrate is ready, the mycelium should be removed and allowed to warm up naturally.
The table where the work will be performed is disinfected, gloves are put on, and hair is tucked under a cap or scarf. To minimize the chances of contaminating the mycelium with unwanted bacteria, the mycelium should be treated with hydrogen peroxide.
Landing
The substrate should be mixed with mycelium in a 10:1 ratio and filled into clean, disinfected bags. Plastic bags are typically used; color and transparency are not important. 2-cm holes are cut in the bags every 10-15 cm; these are the slits where the fruiting bodies will emerge.
You may be interested in:Since the bag needs airflow from all sides, it can be suspended from the ceiling or racks can be used to stack the bags vertically. The required air temperature is up to 25°C, with humidity at 70-80%. A fan can be installed, but avoid directing the wind at the blocks. While the mycelium is growing, the bags should be kept dark, for example by covering them with a curtain or screen.
Mushrooms can be seen through the holes after 2-3 weeks. However, the process will begin within just a few days, and if the bag is transparent, you can see the mycelium growing. It is recommended to keep the room clean by damp cleaning.
Ripening of the harvest
Once the mycelium has grown, it requires different conditions. The easiest way to achieve this is to change the location and move everything to the basement, where the desired conditions can be achieved. For maturation, it's important to create the following conditions:
- humidity 95%. This level can be achieved using a humidifier or regular air spraying;
- air temperature +10-15°C;
- 12-hour daylight: it would be ideal to install LED phytolamps, but regular ones can also be used;
- ventilation of the room 2-3 times a day;
- "Shower" the mushroom caps daily, but do it carefully so that the water drains away and does not linger inside the base and cause rotting.
The first harvest can be collected 1.5 months after planting, the second – 2-3 weeks later. A total of up to four harvests can be expected. Then the substrate needs to be replaced and the process starts all over again. The old bag contents are ideal as garden fertilizer.
Growing oyster mushrooms on stumps
If you have a garden plot and want to grow oyster mushrooms for yourself, without any intention of making a profit, then a less intensive option is suitable – cultivation on stumps, tree cuts, so-called "churkas."
Deciduous trees such as aspen, poplar, willow, and linden are suitable for this purpose. Like the bags, make deep slits in the logs and insert the purchased mycelium into them. Keep them in the shade and water them until the first mushrooms appear. Then, you can place the stumps outside in the shade—under trees or the north wall of a building—and harvest them periodically.
A commercial mushroom growing kit
The popularity of oyster mushrooms and interest in growing them yourself are stimulating producers to create new products. For beginners, a turnkey kit—a ready-made container with substrate and mycelium—may be suitable.
How and where to order materials?
Buying a ready-made kit is easy: they're sold in gardening stores and specialized online retailers. The kit will always include detailed instructions for use.
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Place the mushroom growing kit in the location recommended in the instructions and begin humidifying it to stimulate the mycelium. Maintain the recommended temperature, humidity, and lighting levels. When the first mushrooms appear, move the box to a cooler location, such as a balcony, and expose it to light.
While such a compact kit is perfectly suitable for use in an apartment, it's important to remember that it may cause discomfort to people or animals, especially sensitive ones. It could also be harmful to fungi, as living spaces harbor many bacteria that are harmful to them. Therefore, even a ready-made kit is best kept in a non-living area.
Reviews
Some readers have experience using this set. Here's what they say:
Oleg: "I decided to combine gardening with business and start growing oyster mushrooms. However, I'd heard a lot about allergies to the spores. This kit was the perfect way to test myself. It looked like a cute cardboard box with a bag of substrate inside. I started watering it and tried to spend more time near it. I was lucky: I didn't develop an allergy, so I moved on to larger-scale cultivation.
Anna: "My grandmother loves to go mushroom picking in the forest, but she's too old to do so, so giving her this set was a great idea. On the cool veranda, the box produced just as the ad promised."
Victor: "My experience was unsuccessful: I picked three mushrooms from the kit. I don't know if there's something wrong with the mycelium itself, or maybe it died in transit—I ordered it online—but I've completely lost the desire to buy another one."
Answers to frequently asked questions
You may be interested in:Growing oyster mushrooms is quite interesting and even profitable. There are three ways to cultivate mushrooms at home: in bags, on stumps, and using a ready-made mushroom kit. Oyster mushroom enthusiasts can choose the most suitable option and soon have their own harvest.
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